The month of April was dedicated to biking to work in Arizona. I took the challenge with a few coworkers. I ended up riding/taking the light rail some 533 miles. (Some will argue that the light rail miles are cheating. I am not on the highway and I wasn’t a regular user of this form of public transit before this month, so I’m calling it a win. I definitely cycled more than I rode.)
So, this morning, with the last day of the challenge looming, I decided to take my time riding in to take as many photos as I could.
There was that yard in Tempe that is now overgrown with spring bushes nearly covering their pro-vegan hand-lettered messaging:
Rock on, hippies. And the community garden nearby, with the maze of pastel painted tractor tires:
The birthday cake house! As my brother and I always called it as kids:
It is actually the Tovrea Castle. I’ve never been inside, but it has quite the history. Can you imagine landing in Arizona and constructing that house amid a sea of saguaros and adobes? Chutzpah.
There was also the odd landscape, including beheaded palms, a Mary Poppins fence, and a park with a creative state flag:
The Sheriff Joe protesters — who may be getting somewhere.
And then there was the practical I also documented. I’ve become good friends with Aleve, and lesser friends with my right knee. Also, the heat today was serious. It was close to 100 and for the first time, I could feel it coming back off the black pavement toward me as I road with my head down toward home.
And just when I thought I wasn’t going to have anything really funny to share photo wise, this guy got on the my train home:
He said it takes him just a few minutes to do, and then he goes back to bed for an hour to let it dry. It. Was. Mesmerizing. The entire car of people starting chattering.
A full month of riding in. If I learned one thing I’d like everyone to know it is this: get off your phone and pay attention to the road. Please.
~K